I'm warming up to Bloomberg

[Lexblues]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's my 2nd choice behind Biden right now. I guess those countless ads are working on me too! So far, I'm liking what I'm hearing from him. I also think he may be the most potent against Trump, if only cause he's going to use a lot of his own money.

[sprinkleeninow]

1. Oy. I been thinkin' how you're thinkin'.

'I don't believe me.' ☺

Even after considering the negativity I have heard about him.

I dunno. I'll see.

[Sherman A1]

2. I appreciate his efforts vs Trump

who I firmly believe he absolutely loathes, but he would only be my choice if he is on he ballot in November and then I would have to hold my nose when voting for him.

[B Stieg]

3. I'm not.

This country should not be run by a billionaire.

[murielm99]

4. His wealth should not be the reason

to be against him. Listen to what some of his detractors here have to say. Verify. Then, decide, based on the evidence.

Illinois is being run by a billionaire. He is one of the most progressive governors in the country, and he is accomplishing great things!

[mucifer]

8. Yeah, Pritzker from IL is great. Bloomberg is not. Bloomberg had a lot

of anti poor people policies. Yes, Bloomberg is no trump. But, as a mayor he caused a lot of needless suffering.

From The Atlantic:

“The police are stopping hundreds of thousands of law abiding New Yorkers every year, and the vast majority are black and Latino,” the New York Civil Liberties Union objected in 2012. “More than 4 million innocent New Yorkers were subjected to police stops and street interrogations from 2004 through 2011 ... Nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent, according to the NYPD’s own reports.” Those stats undermine stop-and-frisk defenders, who claim to this day that the NYPD only targeted “those whom they reasonably believed to be involved in crimes and armed.” How reasonable can that ostensible belief have been when it was wrong roughly 90 percent of the time?

Under Bloomberg, arrests rose steeply in New York City for marijuana possession. The city regulated trans fats, and barred the philanthropic donation of fresh bagels and other foodstuffs to the needy in homeless shelters because the salt, fat, and fiber content could not be assessed by city bureaucrats.

When anti-war protesters wanted to assemble against the impending invasion of Iraq in 2003, New York City, “citing only vague security concerns, refused to grant a permit to march, allowing only a stationary rally and cramming attendees into a narrow penned area,” CityLab recounts. “Hundreds of thousands of protesters were unable to get within earshot.”

Bloomberg favors the use of forcible seizure of private property by the government not only to build vital public infrastructure, but also to facilitate private development deals.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/bloomberg-civil-liberties/602239/


Bloomberg is no Prtizker who is anti stop and frisk and expunged convictions for marijuana convictions. Yes, there are some policies that they share the same views.

Another thing about billionaires to remember. We probably wouldn't have social security without FDR who today would have been a billionaire.

[Dem4Life1102]

11. How about his policies?

Stop and frisk. Charter schools. Illegally detaining protesters during the GOP convention. And more

[B Stieg]

15. By the grace of his hand...

and, as you must admit you're seeing now, they believe they are above all of us and the law as well.
"For the love of money is the root of all evil."
So, yes, extreme wealth IS a legitimate reason for not voting for somebody.
What world do you live in?

[mahina]

5. Never

In 10 million years

[theaocp]

6. The very thought of what he is NOT doing with this money is fucking nauseating.

Egotistical nonsense. DOA.

[MH1]

27. LOL LOL

Given YOUR candidate. What your candidate did not do and predictably will not do this time for the Democratic nominee, when it isn't him - that's what's fucking nauseating.

Or maybe it's that he CAN'T? Then he should recognize that, get out, and put his support behind a better candidate, who CAN support the nominee when it isn't them.

But he won't because, you know, ego.

[theaocp]

36. LOL Australia could use Bloomberg's help

just for fucking starters. Still laughing? The OP is about Bloomberg. Stay focused.

[W_HAMILTON]

28. I think a campaign buying up its own candidate's books using funds...

…solicited from people living paycheck to paycheck is fucking nauseating, but to each his own!

[theaocp]

37. The OP is about BLOOMBERG

but, lol, to each his own!

[Sloumeau]

7. African Americans would never support Bloomberg.

After his Stop and Frisk policy, Black People would not support him. Neither would people of any other color who objected to his Stop and Frisk policy. if the Democrats nominated him, they would hand the Presidency to Trump.

[mia]

9. Are you saying that they would refuse to vote at all if Bloomberg were the nominee?

That's hard to believe.

[Sloumeau]

12. Check out this Pew Research Web Page:

[link:https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/12/black-voter-turnout-fell-in-2016-even-as-a-record-number-of-americans-cast-ballots/|]

You will notice that black voter turnout rose every Presidential year from 1996 to 2012. The two highest turnout years were 2008 and 2012, when a candidate that they really liked, Barack Obama, was running. Then, for the first time since 1996, black voter turnout dropped. Now, it did drop in those places that had voter suppression, but it also dropped in places where there was no voter suppression. Most Black people were never going to show up to vote for Donald Trump, and I believe that things like those nasty Facebook anti-Hillary web pages helped to turn Black voters off to Hillary too. I believe that the fact that Barack Obama was more popular than Hillary, when combined with all of the nasty anti-Hillary rhetoric, along with voter suppression, depressed the Black vote in America.

So, I am saying that yes, if Stop and Frisk Michael Bloomberg were to be the Democratic nominee, a number of Black people might decide that they like neither Bloomberg or Donald Trump and not pull the lever for either of them.

[flamingdem]

32. Agree that Bloomberg will not turn out the black or youth vote

and Biden can do that

[bullwinkle428]

17. THANK YOU. It's just shocking to me that so many DUers have amnesia

when it comes to the idea that we need to maximize base turnout if we want to give ourselves the best chance of overcoming Putin-powered shenanigans!

Bloomberg scares the shit out of me as far as the idea of many of our most enthusiastic parts of our base staying home on Election Day. Look, I have a number of issues with Joe, but you'd have to be an idiot to not recognize how much he excites critical members of our essential coalition.

[Sloumeau]

19. You are very welcome.

[aikoaiko]

10. I'd vote for Joe before Bloomberg -- without hesitation.

In fact, I'd vote for Tom Steyer before Bloomberg.

[CTyankee]

13. We NEED a woman president!

OK, here's my pitch: Elizabeth Warren. Read about her fabulous history and her wonderful presence each day in the U.S.Senate. She is warm, inspiring, accomplished and she can WIN.

Bloomberg is doing a great job of destroying Trump but I believe he is paving the way, with all his money, for a better equipped candidate. That's Elizabeth Warren.

Read about her https://elizabethwarren.com/meet-elizabeth

[Autumn]

14. If you want a billionaire why not one who doesnt donate to Republicans to get them elected?

One who doesn't support forcible seizure of private property for private development deals, one who isn't all for Charter schools? There is one billionaire running who has donated millions to get Democrats elected and is a Democrat who doesn't support Republicans. Tom Steyer.

[dalton99a]

16. I welcome all ammunition against the criminal regime.

[boomer_wv]

18. Why bother?

He isnt even on the ballot in several states and wont be in Iowa or NH. It's a vanity campaign and hes not viable for the nomination.

He should have been more decisive and got in last year. He'd have had a chance.

[liskddksil]

20. How can any Democrat support this guy?

He literally spoke on behalf of George W. Bush at the RNC. He endorsed, Susan Collins, Pat Toomey and many of the GOP Senators that make up Moscow Mitch's majority. There is nothing Democratic about him.

[Amimnoch]

21. I like that he's going directly after Trump.

That's a HUGE plus and I so wish the rest of our field would follow suit.

I've gone to his site, and while he has positions, they're very vague and hard to follow - negative in my book.

The one thing I'd want to know for sure.. if we keep the house, and we gain a majority in the Senate (even if it's a 50/50 senate with VP tie-breaker), would he sign off on ANY Democratic Party championed bills that do manage to squeeze through congress? That's my biggest issue with BS, he's the only candidate that I don't trust to do so. I don't distrust Bloomberg to sign off, but I don't trust him to sign off as I do most of the rest of our field of candidates.

[Mike 03]

22. The way I look at this:

If I had some difficult-to-surmount (some say insurmountable) task, would I accept help from someone who has more resources to accomplish the task than I do by myself and isn't asking for anything in return? I'd accept the help.

[Tom Rinaldo]

23. Not me. He backed Joe Lieberman over the Democrat in the 2006 CT Senate race

Lieberman went on to endorse McCain over Obama in 2008.

"Bloomberg’s Endorsement of Lieberman Hints at Plans of His Own"
NY Times Aug. 10, 2006

"Leaving open the door to joining a third party himself someday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg offered a robust endorsement to Senator Joseph I. Lieberman yesterday, lending the senator's struggling re-election bid the influence of a popular mayor with demonstrated appeal to both Democrats and Republicans.Leaving open the door to joining a third party himself someday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg offered a robust endorsement to Senator Joseph I. Lieberman yesterday, lending the senator's struggling re-election bid the influence of a popular mayor with demonstrated appeal to both Democrats and Republicans."

Clearly it would be far preferable to have Bloomberg as President rather than Trump, and I'll support him if he is our nominee. But that's it.

[myohmy2]

25. "I'm warming up to Bloomberg"

...better bring a parka and some long underwear...

...have you ever considered the many advantages of selecting Bernie?

...you know, Bernie can beat trump at his own game...

...he can do it...

[ehrnst]

35. ...he can do it!...

Link to tweet

...

[myohmy2]

38. hey...

...that's pretty funny...considering Bernie's always being accused of being too serious...

...that Bernie...clowning around...

...he's some jokesters...

...you know, we could use a President with a sense of humor...

[ehrnst]

39. ...yes...sense of humor...

...just the other day he blessed the release of a video showing that he says that he's a barrel of laughs....

Link to tweet

.... ...

...

[StevieM]

26. Are you starting to warm up to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney?

Because he supported them in their 2004 re-election campaign.

[ret5hd]

29. My fear of Bloomberg is that it's all an act:

"Goddamnit, that fuckin' Warren or Sanders is gonna end up winning, and they're gonna tax the shit out of me! What can I do to protect myself???"

That's my thoughts, anyway.

[onetexan]

30. Likewise, Bloomberg is my 2nd choice as well

He would do just fine. I like all his ads i've seen so far. The message is very much anti-trump and pro-Democratic values.

[flamingdem]

31. He likely won't get the African American vote or youth vote

though he could help Biden if he so chooses.

He hates Trump so he might.

[LAS14]

33. I just don't want a political process in place where someone can buy their way...

... into the election without actually going to the people. I'm not sure how Steyer comes out on this, but I'm not as resistant to him because he started so early and seemed motivated by the issues, not his own success.

[Jake Stern]

34. Totally agree

Honestly, it's refreshing to see someone take the fight to Trump and he is obviously getting under Trump's skin.,